Dear Friend,
Many have asked, what in the world is happening? We've gone from one crisis to the next, from a pandemic to pandemonium.
After a blatant display of police brutality in Minneapolis took the life of George Floyd last week, unrest and lawlessness have rocked our nation.
Amid all this crisis and chaos that our nation finds itself in, there is much work to be done. There are hurting people who need the hope and the help that only a relationship with Jesus Christ can provide.
You have to wonder if the door to the current state of chaos in the nation was opened when the doors of so many churches were closed.
As I wrote to you last week, an alarming number of governors and mayors, as well as a few judges, have used the coronavirus crisis to infringe upon our First Amendment rights to religious freedom and to assemble.
Let me share just a few examples with you:
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned religious leaders that their places of worship could be shut down permanently if they did not follow the city's order to pause services during the coronavirus pandemic. What exactly he meant by "permanently" is unclear, but the rhetoric is concerning.
- Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced he would record the license plate numbers at Easter church services and impose a mandatory 14-day quarantine on the attendees. (The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled to allow the services, noting that Beshear's ban on faith-based mass gatherings had "several potential hallmarks of discrimination.")
- In California, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors banned churches with online worship services from having more than four singers in the same place.
- Greenville, Mississippi, police issued $500 fines to congregants in cars who refused to leave a church parking lot where a drive-in service was being conducted via car radios -- despite following social distancing guidelines at the time. (A U.S. District Judge later ruled that drive-in services are allowed.)
- Kansas Governor Laura Kelly issued an executive order just before Easter singling out churches.
- Chincoteague, Virginia police cited a pastor for violating Governor Northam's COVID Order 55's 10-person gathering limit, holding a worship service with 16 people in a sanctuary that seats 293, all spaced far apart! The church serves drug addicts, prostitutes, and the poorest who depend on the church. The penalty for the pastor can be up to a year in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. (The Department of Justice sided with the church against Northam.)
These are just a handful of the cases of religious liberty restrictions happening all around the country.
Public officials claim these steps are needed to protect the health and safety of their citizens. But too often that's just not the case.
For example, the Greenville churchgoers mentioned above were right across the street from a drive-in restaurant open for business as usual! Or compare the 10-person limit for a large church to the hundreds allowed into a Walmart or Costco!
When governments single out churches for closure and punishment, they're clearly overstepping their authority.
And it's up to pro-faith, pro-family, and pro-freedom Americans across the nation -- you and me -- to speak out against this abuse of power.
That's why I'm grateful to God that we have an administration filled with government officials, like U.S. Attorney General William Barr, defending our religious liberty.
Will you support FRC Action so we can continue working alongside allies, like Attorney General Barr, to send a message to these governors and mayors that they cannot trample our religious liberty?
Thank you for your faithfulness in giving to FRC Action. May God bless you for your generosity.
Standing (Eph. 6:13),
Tony Perkins
President
P.S. Please forward this email to at least one friend.
FRC Action is a tax-exempt corporation under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. Financial contributions to FRC Action are not tax-deductible.
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